I wonder if people know that the U.S. has treaty partners that we bleed resources from, like ancient kings took tribute from vassal nations. Bad-boy expansionists like Caesar of Rome and Napoleon of France have nothing on our own imperial presidents like Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush.

World War II was the war that our forces never came home from. We left troops and ships to occupy new protectorates and colonies the world over, including the countries of our new "friends" in the Middle East. That way we could be sure to get what's ours. Obama has now asserted our bad-boy rights in the Straits of Hormuz.

But we have paid a price for all our war-making and saber rattling. Every president since Ronald Reagan has used deficit spending to finance military adventures. In the meantime, the wealthy have gotten super wealthy and the military has gotten super fat.

Unfortunately, huge numbers of ordinary Americans have become poorer, evicted from their homes or unemployed. And we think we have any kind of choice among the flip-flopping, hypocritical insiders available in our Democratic and Republican Parties this election?